Dr. Lynn Vartan Earns Global Music Awards Honor For Marimba Album ‘Stars Above’
Dr. Lynn Vartan, associate professor in the new Music Performance program that debuted this semester in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, recently released an album of duo marimba works titled “Stars Above.”
The California native is joined by percussionist WeiChen Lin on the album, and they perform as Duo LinLynn. “Stars Above” was released in July and has already earned the Gold Medal Award of Excellence for the 2024 Global Music Awards.
“WeiChen and I have performed together so many times, and we have different styles,” Vartan said. “We wanted to make an album that spans centuries in music, beginning with classical and moving through contemporary with composers such as the Australian marimba artist Robert Oetomo.”
The album covers transcriptions among the classical repertoire, including “Valse Romantique” by Claude Debussy and “Scène Romantique” by Jean Sibelius. The album also includes the song “Clay Pipes and Spiral Shells,” composed by Jenni Brandon with narration by Vartan. The duo also plays vibraphone on several tracks.
The Global Music Awards is an international showcase for original music, voices and emerging global artists, according to its website. Vartan said it was an honor to be selected for the Gold Medal Award of Excellence.
“Performing with WeiChen is just a joy,” she said. “And to see that our great musical connection as we perform can be recognized at this level among artists from all over the world is just so meaningful.”
Coming To Aggieland
For the last 16 years, Vartan taught percussion at Southern Utah University. This is her first semester in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, and she said she was excited to move to Texas because of its percussion presence.
In Music Entrepreneurship, Vartan teaches marketing and branding in music and helps students establish their portfolios. She discusses the responsibility of artists through an array of art forms in her Introduction to Interarts Performance course.
“My goal is to give students a look into all the great minds in other arts — the pivotal minds in dance, theatre, visual art and spoken word,” she said. “So they get a survey of the people who shaped collaborative art.”
Vartan said she hopes to inspire students in the arts by providing an “elevated, exploratory and collaborative” experience in her teaching.
“My excitement for what is to come here is really huge,” she said. “I think it is just brilliant the advancing of the arts here in this community — and I think the way they are doing it and the uniqueness of it by having this interarts slant is really incredible.”
She also provided the program with a Marimba One marimba, vibraphone and mallets for students to use from her collection of signature mallets. She said she is excited for students to be able to use them in class.
Vartan’s first campus performance is an interarts event titled “Memor-ii” on Nov. 7 and 8 at 7 p.m. in the Igloo Studio, on the fourth floor of the Langford Architecture Center, Building C. For information on limited seating, email Vartan at vartan@tamu.edu.
The one-hour program features live music and interactive visual design on the studio’s 360-degree screen. It was created in collaboration with Michael Bruner, instructional assistant professor in Visualization; Dr. Jinsil Hwaryoung Seo, director of the Institute for Applied Creativity and associate professor in Visualization; and Tim Weaver, section chair for Art and Design and instructional associate professor in Visualization.
“This intimate program is based around the collective idea of memories,” Vartan said. “It’s an invitation to experience my performance of percussion music in this exceptionally special venue.”
Travels And Honors
Vartan will perform at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, in November. She will perform on keyboard and present a discussion titled “Taking Electronics on the Road: Anywhere, Anytime.”
“A lot of the pieces I perform with are electronic, either with a backing track or digital delay,” Vartan said. “I have developed this kit — a carry-on suitcase that I travel with — and I will share the contents of the whole kit. Then, I will perform and demonstrate different ways of using the electronics.”
Vartan will also premiere a solo marimba piece written for her by composer Ivan Trevino, who is a professor of practice in percussion at the University of Texas at Austin.
“Ivan is very famous in the percussion world,” she said. “I am going to sing in the song he composed for me, which is very cool.”
Vartan will also perform and fulfill a teaching residency at the Percussion Ensemble of the Mongolian State Conservatory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in March 2025. She said the conservatory members wanted the festival to feature global musicians.
“At these festivals, it is really important to look for somebody who is a performer, an artist and also a teacher,” she said. “Someone who can really help elevate the students in their playing and also inspire them in terms of their career path. I am also excited to be their first American percussionist featured.”
During her teaching residency, Vartan said she hopes to share what she loves most about music with students.
“Mongolia is such a beautiful place that I love performing in,” she said. “To have an opportunity to go and share the music I am passionate about and the experiences that I have had with young people who are looking to become musicians there is incredible.”
